cite Han

Chapter 220 Slapping

Since the width of this section of the Xiangshui River is only more than a hundred feet, it is difficult to implement tactics such as encircling the enemy's side, and there is no room for maneuver.

Therefore, such a scene appeared on the battlefield: two huge fleets braved overwhelming arrows like a plague of locusts, and collided with each other with an indomitable momentum.

Accompanied by loud noises, several warships rushing to the front collided fiercely, and the bow of the ship was smashed to pieces in an instant. The soldiers on the deck were thrown into the sky irresistibly, and some soldiers were thrown into the water.

However, looking at the entire battlefield, this kind of fighting method of "killing one thousand enemies and harming oneself by eight hundred", which is similar to a desperate charge, is a minority after all.Even though the width of the battlefield is limited, the fleets of both sides still try to open their formations as much as possible, leaving enough space for enemy ships to pass through.

Taking advantage of the staggered enemy ships, under the cover of parapets, battle sheds, and ship sides, the two sides shot each other sideways with bows and crossbows, and went all the way deep into the enemy's line. Battle on board.

Liu Zong took the general Chen Jin as the front and Huang Wu as the front, leading 32 warships to lead the way, and he himself followed with 45 fighting ships.

These 45 fighting ships were all equipped with at least two clapper poles at the bow, and several of the giant battleships more than ten feet long were even equipped with six clapper poles, that is, two on the bow and two on the left and right sides.

In order to confuse the enemy, the outside of the shooting pole was covered with crimson cloth. Although this abnormal behavior attracted the attention of the officers and men of the Jingzhou navy, they didn't pay much attention to it, only thinking that the other party was extravagant.After all, their coach Cai Mao likes to put blue canopies and crimson curtains on the buildings.

Liu Zong's fleet sailed down the river at an extremely fast speed. During this period, they seldom entangled with the enemy. The main task of rushing to the front was to clear the way for the fighting ships behind and clear the way.

In the process of advancing, the warships either actively or passively fell behind one after another.When Cai Zhong's building and ship formation was in sight, Liu Zongfang was responsible for less than ten warships leading the way, and even Chen Jin, the general who was in charge of Fengdi, was intercepted by enemy ships and could not persist to the end.

Fortunately, another general, Huang Wu, was safe and sound all the way. Looking at the last "blockers" in front of him, he changed his previous attitude of avoiding and not fighting, and swung his knife and shouted loudly: "Bump them, hit them, knock them away!" ..."

The remaining warships immediately formed a "wedge shape" and slammed into the enemy ships blocking the way forward.

After a moment of shaking and people turning their backs, the front suddenly opened up, completely exposing Cai Zhong's building and ship formation. Soon, a large number of fighting ships rushed out of the gap, swarming towards Cai Zhong's building and ship formation.

Cai Zhong couldn't help showing a sneer on his face. He didn't know why the opponent chose the tactic of "desperately attacking the Chinese army directly", but in his opinion, this was undoubtedly a stupid decision.

The formation of buildings under his command consisted of twenty ships, and the other two wings were guarded by warships and warships. The opponent's move was tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg.

Building ships do have various disadvantages, such as the buildings on board are too high, the center of gravity is unstable, and they are easy to capsize when encountering strong winds and waves.But this only shows that its adaptability is poor, but it does not mean that its combat effectiveness is also poor.On the contrary, it is tall and majestic, carrying many troops, like a water fortress, it is a well-deserved overlord among the rivers.

This is indeed the case. When the two sides were approaching, the bows and crossbows of the building and boat formation easily gained the upper hand when shooting against Liu Zong's fighting ships by virtue of their superiority in numbers.

In the next boarding battle, the advantages of building ships with taller ships and more people will only be greater.Just when Cai Zhong was so determined, Liu Zong's group of fighting ships rushed straight to remove the crimson cloth of the bow one after another, revealing one left and one right, fifty feet long, with boulders hanging on them.

When Cai Zhong saw it, he couldn't help being shocked. Although he had never seen this thing before, he could guess its purpose just by looking at the boulder above the wooden pole.

Cai Zhong broke out in cold sweat instantly. If such a boulder fell down, even a tall and sturdy building would be hard to keep intact.

At this time, the distance between the two sides was only more than [-] feet, the distance was too close, Cai Zhong couldn't do anything now, he could only scream in vain: "Sho... shoot..."

However, compared to before, the rain of arrows has obviously become much rarer. From this, it is not difficult to see that Cai Zhong is definitely not the only one who was shocked by the patting pole.

For the first few fighting ships, the soldiers gathered at the bows and raised their poles to form a wall, while the officers in charge of clapping the poles silently calculated the distance through the gaps in the wall.

The poles are usually fixed on the top by the reel guards to tighten the ropes. When the bows of the two ships are close at hand, several officers loosen the reel guards of the poles at the same time. To the deck of the enemy ship.

"Boom...boom...boom..."

The huge bombardment sounded like heaven and earth ripping apart, instantly overshadowing the noise on the battlefield.

Invincible on the water for hundreds of years, the building boats that can only be defeated by natural disasters have become horrible after only one round of slapping. Some houses with several floors were completely destroyed, and all the soldiers hiding inside were buried in ruins and wreckage. among.Some decks were ruptured, river water poured in, and the soldiers on them became disorganized.

There are countless people who fell into the water, and those without armor can still swim in the water. If they are lucky, they may still have a chance to swim ashore. However, unless they can find floating objects on the water that they can borrow, otherwise, no matter how good they are at swimming, they will eventually die. When they are exhausted, the last thing waiting for them is the end of death.

The Pao pole first appeared on the battlefield, and achieved quite impressive results. Just one round of attack nearly paralyzed the five tall buildings, like lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

Facing such a weapon that is irresistible to manpower, even if the soldiers of Jingzhou saved a life, they were already frightened by the power of the pole, and could not even arouse the slightest fighting spirit.

The densely packed enemy ships and shooting rods in front of him are enough to make people desperate, and what is even more desperate is that the shooting rod can be retracted and used repeatedly.There is simply no way for people to survive.

The effect of force is reciprocal. The Jingzhou navy's building boat was smashed to pieces by the pole, and the fighting ship was also shaken. However, Liu Jing's soldiers have been practicing for half a year, and they have long been able to cope with it.Using the reel guard and the rope, the official officer skillfully pulled the pole back and fastened it, and then followed the order, and the pole fell again.

"Boom...boom...boom..."

This time it was no longer just the first few battleships, more battleships and more poles participated, and the effect was surprisingly good.One of the building boats, after being slapped by three fighting ships, the hull leaned forward severely, and the river surged into the cabin. No matter how difficult it was to restore the balance of the hull, it was only a matter of time before it sank.

As an invincible battleship on the water, the defense line composed of ten buildings should be indestructible, but after encountering the pole, it immediately turned into a pile of fragile water coffins.

Seeing all this with his own eyes, Cai Zhong tightened his grip on the handle of the knife, feeling cold inside.

"School, Captain..." The generals under his command trembled with horror on their faces, "The enemy is rushing over! The captain's flag is hung on the top of this ship, and it will definitely become the enemy's primary attack target. To be on the safe side, the lieutenant should leave as soon as possible and transfer to another ship..."

The surrounding soldiers all thought it was true, but before Cai Zhong finished speaking, he glared at him fiercely and said, "You asked me to abandon the ship before the battle?"

"Lieutenant, please calm down..." The general secretly groaned in his heart, the captain was too ignorant, how could this be called abandoning the ship before the battle? "The last general means that if the captain is besieged by the enemy, it will be difficult to command the fleet to fight. At that time, it will inevitably cause chaos in the entire army, which is not good for the war. Why not..."

Cai Zhong didn't listen to the opponent's advice at all, he swung his long knife and slashed on the deck, saying firmly: "I was ordered by the general and the military adviser to be the front of the navy. How can I abandon the ship without fighting when the enemy is in front of me? Anyone who repeats this will be beheaded!"

"..." Hearing the words, the officers and soldiers all looked miserable, and their hearts were piercingly chilled.

While speaking, battleships approached one after another like a school of sharks. Just as General Cai Zhongbu was worried, the general flag waving in the wind on the top of Cai Zhong's ship was the biggest target.

Cai Zhong stared solemnly at the paddle pole on the enemy ship. After approaching, he realized how intimidating the boulder installed on it was.

For a moment, Cai Zhongxin doubted the decision just now. In the face of such a powerful and unsolvable weapon, is his persistence completely unnecessary?

But he quickly killed this idea. The general flag is the soul of an army, especially on the water. In a sense, the general flag is more important than himself.He himself can die, and the flag cannot be lost. If the flag is lost to the enemy, it will definitely lead to the defeat of the former army.

When the Pai Pole whizzed down with the boulder, Cai Zhong stared wide-eyed, his mind went blank, maybe there would be a way to counter the Pai Pole in the future, but for now, he could only watch helplessly.

"Boom...boom...boom..."

In the violent concussion, Cai Zhong and the soldiers around him immediately scattered into the air like a goddess scattering flowers. Cai Zhong couldn't control his body, and he bumped his head against the wall of the hut, and blood flowed all over his face in an instant.

Although he looked extremely miserable, he finally saved his life. If he didn't wear a pocket guard, his head would definitely explode, and there is absolutely no reason for him to escape.

Cai Zhong slowed down for a while before he got up in a daze. The deck two steps away in front of him had been smashed out of shape, and the three-story hut behind him had been destroyed. Can't find it.

However, this was only the beginning, and the second round of pole-slapping attacks fell immediately, and one of the pitted and blood-stained boulders fell on Cai Zhong's position.

"Captain...be careful..."

Cai Zhong was hit hard on the head, and his reaction was unavoidably slow. Seeing this, the generals hurriedly threw him down, and finally rescued him from the gate of hell.

Severe pain in the body and head, the tide hit Cai Zhong's nerves, he barely opened his eyes, and found that the pillow on his face was his own flag.

(End of this chapter)